The present invention relates to a rotary sprinkler and more particularly to electrically operated sprinklers. The sprinklers, according to the invention, could be for irrigating a full circular area or part thereof.
There are known a large number of rotary sprinklers of all kinds of construction, sizes, etc. There is also known as what is described as xe2x80x9cpop-upxe2x80x9d rotary sprinklers which are housed in a housing unit buried in the ground adopted to pop-up when the water supply is turned on.
The present invention relates to all kinds of sprinklers, however it is extremely useful for xe2x80x9cpop-upxe2x80x9d sprinklers, without excluding use of the invention with conventional rotary sprinklers.
As is well known in the art, the rotary movement of the rotary sprinkler is obtained by what is known as water motors, namely, the water flow rotates the sprinkler head. It is well known that in order to achieve the rotary movement, some of the water energy is being used for obtaining the rotary movement of the sprinkler. Due to the above there is loss of pressure, the efficiency of the sprinkler is affected, i.e., the outjetting water stream is less effective, the flow rate is lesser, the range is shorter and uniformity of dispersion is inferior.
It is object of the present invention to obtain rotary movement of rotary sprinklers by electric power rather than water power so that the full water pressure is being used for irrigation and not for activating the rotary movement. By using the full water pressure, better irrigation and better performance of the sprinkler is achieved.
Consequently by using an electric motor, further benefits are achieved, such as speeding or slowing the rotary movement of the sprinkler, changing directions, full control over the out-jetting water stream and stopping the rotational movement at any given point, if so required.
According to the invention there is provided a rotary irrigation sprinkler head, a water inlet and a water outlet. The main rotary part is provided with a gear and a plurality of toothed wheels forming a reduction gear to which a low voltage electric motor is connected. The said electric motor is connected to an electrical power source.
In the preferred embodiment a second electric motor is connected to the water outlet nozzle to enable the control of the angle the water jet.
By employing two such motors, and controlling each one independently it enables to maintain uniform distribution of water regardless of the shape and size of irrigated area.